Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1887-06-12
Eouer Explosions.

~ Nc Idior III Hc Ui.DGtch:
note an article in Your last Sun
Gavs issue IN relation 10 steam boilers
and What is necessary for their safety,
and While agree with him III all he
saws rs to examinations by experts 50
IS 10 determine the strength OF boil
II, Sc, be does not explain fully how
20 prevent boiler explosions. As /
have bad some experience with steam
1oilcrs, and have been placed whore |
have received instructions from some
of tie tC,t engineers IL the country,
feel at home with this subject. hoR.
as 70 the material from which steam
boilers are constructed Mo-, II
not ali, Of the works in the aited
States that make a &Poci0iiV OF boiler
non have stamp which they place
urcn every plate made, and 1t 10 their
care and prIde 70 see that no plates
,taye their Establishments without this
stamp. Tie iron FOR these is selected
from the very best pig. carefully
boiled (Which IS an \ so. ! process OF
ruddliug), and then rolled into bars
zach ollc Of these bans has 10 stand
certain test, and if any 00e Of them
falls below q certain amount OF pounds
pressure TO the square inch it Is
condemned. Then. in those establish
mcnts that have the bamc of making
the hest plates, TIE non is filed ana
carefully treated then hammered by
n stcam-hammer into a aiGb and rolled
INTO plate this plate Is carefully eX-
amincd to see that there is no blisfCT.
6i,aish, or lfGck; then it is trimmed
to certain Dimensions, and these trim
minqs again subjected to a "fcsf ii
satisfactory it il sold for boiler-phte
If not, then for some other use. So
much for the material. Now rs e.
What constitutes "Saley IN aboiler-
or. in other words, how to avoid "cX-
plosions in boilers, for they can bc
avoided. 4 boiler never eXplodes BE-
cause it is old and weak q am speak
ing now about these terrible crpIo-
<iOnO. 1t may collapse or the plates
sqloG apart 50 the boiler will
leak from these causes, but never
explodes, for l am going to make the
assertion that there never was boiler
exploded that at the time of the ex-
plosion carried two solid gauges OF
water and had the safety valve properly
set. And | am now going to demon
strate that there have been perfectly safe
boilers so thin and weak that you could
take Il hammer and throw through the
plates at any place below the fire sur
face. Now, what would make boiler
of this kind perfectly safe? A safe man
and one who understood his business
as water-tender. While in charge OF
the Albany Iron-Works, where from
twenty to thirty boilers are used,
one was reported to me as being
in a leaky condition. The bars
were drawn from the furnace, the man
holes of the boiler were removed, and
when it was so that the boilermaker
could enter, the first blow Of his ham
mer vent through the boiler 1t was
then discovered that every sheet Of the
fire surface was in like condition. This
boiler was in this condition for some
time. Now, if weakness would cause
n boiler TO explode, surely this ought
to have done so but il was rendered safe
by having a safe man in charge, and it
merely "squabbed out so as to leak.
AND DID 40 HARM. A few months af-
terwards at the same works | saw
water-tender rush across the mill.
He was very much excited. / reach
ed HIM Just as he placed his
hand upon the feeder (the pipe that
supplies the boiler with water.
ordered him to remove his hand. The
lowest gauge showed no sign of water.
The bars were drawn at once the brick
work at each end Of the boiler removed,
when sight met our gaze that made
leach particular hair stand on end"
FOR THE PLATES WERE RED-Hor, and one
turn of the feeder would have sent
many q man before his Maker, as the
water coming in contact with tue "red-
hot plates" would have generated a
gas compared with which "giant
powder " becomes an infant. The day
before this boiler wonld have stood
all the tests that the most ex-
merit examiner could have piyen